Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Talk to Me – I Want to Talk to You

“Please – don’t spoil
my mood in the morning – I am getting late for work,” she said.

“But I want to talk to
you,” he said.

“Okay – what is it…?”
she said, irritably.

“I am feeling
depressed…” he said.

“Not again – ‘your
problem is that you have no problems’ – you sit at home all day doing nothing –
an empty mind is the devil’s workshop – why don’t you take up that job they are
offering you…?” she said.

“I don’t want to that
job – I don’t want to do any job – I was a Colonel in the Army – and just see
the humiliating jobs they are offering me…” he said.

“Dad – are you crazy –
do you know what time it is out here…?” the old man’s son said from New York,
“it is almost midnight – you have woken me up from my sleep…”

“But I want to talk to
you…” the old man said.

“Please Dad – I have
had a very hard day – I am extremely tired and I want to sleep – I will call
you when I wake up in the morning – after 7 hours…” the old man’s son said, and
he disconnected the phone.

The old man called up
his daughter – who lived in Australia.

His daughter was in
her office – it was a busy afternoon – and she was about to go for an important
meeting – when she her mobile cellphone started ringing – and she saw that her
father was calling from India.

“Yes, Dad…?” the old
man’s daughter said, impatiently.

“I want to talk to
you…” the old man said.

“Not now, Dad – I am
really very busy in office – I am on my way to a meeting – I will call you
after a few hours – when I get home in the evening…” the old man’s daughter
said.

She disconnected the
call – put her smartphone on ‘silent’ mode – and hurried for the meeting.

The old man sat all
alone in his house – feeling terrible.

Earlier – he would
talk to his pet dog – but now – even his pet dog was dead and gone.

The old man called up his
ex-Army buddy – but found his mobile ‘switched off’.

Maybe – his ex-Army
buddy was lecturing in the Business School where he went quite often to deliver
lectures.

The old man called up
another ex-Army buddy – a coursemate – but his mobile phone was ‘out of
coverage area’.

Maybe – his coursemate
was playing golf.

The old man felt
miserable – as gloomy thoughts perambulated in his mind – despondency
overwhelmed him – and pushed him further into deep depression.

The old man
desperately wanted to talk to someone and unburden himself of his woes.

As a last resort – the
old man decided to talk to his nephew Dr. ‘X’ – who was a psychiatrist.

The old man dialed the
psychiatrist’s mobile number – no one picked up – but – in response – the old
man received an SMS asking him to call a landline number.

The old man dialled
the landline number.

A lady – probably a
receptionist at his nephew’s clinic – picked up the phone.

“I want to talk to Dr.
‘X’ …” the old man said.

“Are you an existing
patient…?” the receptionist said.

“No – I am his uncle –
I want to talk to him urgently…” the old man said.

“Sir – I will give you
an appointment in the evening…” the receptionist said.

“Not in the evening –
I want to talk to him right now…” the old man said.

“Sorry, Sir – Dr. ‘X’
does not see any patients in the morning…” the receptionist said.

“I am his bloody
uncle…! I want to talk to him right now…! Do you understand…?” the old man
shouted.

“Please, Sir – Dr. ‘X’
is conducting the weekly clinical update now – and he has told us that he is
not to be disturbed – why don’t you come in the evening, Sir – I will give you
an appointment at 6 PM – that is the only slot available today – please tell me
your name, Sir…” the receptionist said.

“I told you that I
want to talk to him right now…” the old man yelled in an angry voice.

The receptionist
disconnected the phone.

The old man could bear
it no longer.

He got out of his
flat, entered the lift and went down to the ground floor.

The old man
desperately wanted to talk to someone – but everyone seemed busy.

Even the security
staff at the gate looked busy – the guards were busy checking visitors and
vehicles – and the supervisor was making entries in registers.

The old man walked to
the security supervisor and said: “Give me the terrace key…”

“Why do you want it,
Sir…” the supervisor asked the old man.

“I want to jump from
the terrace and commit suicide…” the old man shouted at the supervisor.

The supervisor thought
that the old man was being sarcastic.

Maybe – the old man
wanted the terrace key to adjust his DTH TV Antenna – which he had done a few
days ago.

So – the security
supervisor gave the old man the terrace key – and he made an entry in his
register.

The old man took the
terrace key – signed the register – and walked towards the lift.

As he saw the old man
enter the lift – the supervisor remembered the old man’s words – “I want to
jump from the terrace and commit suicide…”.

The supervisor
wondered why the old man was being so sarcastic.

But – the old man
wasn’t being sarcastic.

The old man had meant
every word of what he had said.

Yes – the old man had
meant every word of what he had said.

The old man went up to
the terrace of the high-rise building.

Then – he jumped off
the terrace.

The old man’s body
hurtled down 150 feet onto the road below.

The old man died
instantly – the moment he hit the concrete road below.

EPILOGUE

A few days later –
they held a condolence meeting for the old man.

While condoling the
sad demise of the old man – someone said: “It is a mystery why the old man
committed suicide – he had absolutely no problems – and even if the old man did
have some problems – he should have talked to someone…”

This story is a work
of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the story are a
figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely
imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog
may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who
holds the copyright.

About Me

A creative person with a zest for
life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated
at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School
Pune, Vikram has published two books:COCKTAILa collection of fiction short stories about relationships
(2011) andAPPETITE FOR A STROLLa
book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel, writing short fiction and compiling his memoirs. An avid
blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative
non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, books, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories, self help and art of living essays in magazines and journals and published a number of professional research papers and reviews and edited in-house magazines and journals for many years, before the advent
of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to
creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse -
his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative
thoughts.